In the castle of the Baron, the chorus welcomes everyone to Westphalia. Dr. Pangloss tutors four children based on his philosophy that “all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.” The children are the Baron’s attractive daughter and son, Cunegonde and Maximilian; Candide, their bastard cousin; and Paquette, a very accommodating servant girl. Candide falls in love with Cunegonde. After Cunegonde discovers Dr. Pangloss being physically intimate with Paquette, Cunegonde acts on her piqued curiosity with Candide. Candide and Cunegonde profess their love to each other. The Baron, upon discovering them, exiles Candide. Candide is tricked into joining the Bulgarian army, which attacks the Castle. The Baron, the Baroness, Maximilian, Paquette, Pangloss, and Cunegonde are all killed. Candide returns to the castle’s ruins and laments his loss of Cunegonde.

Now a beggar, Candide is reunited with Dr. Pangloss, who has been miraculously revived. The two of them are hired by a merchant ship sailing to Lisbon. A volcano erupts as they arrive, followed by an earthquake which kills 30,000 people. Candide and Dr. Pangloss are blamed for the catastrophe, arrested, and tortured. Dr. Pangloss is hanged while Candide is brutally whipped. Candide makes his way to Paris, where he is reunited with Cunegonde. Though she survived the destruction of her father’s castle, she has become a prostitute and is in service of Don Issachar and Paris’ Cardinal Archbishop. The Old Lady warns of the approach of Issachar and the Archbishop, and Candide accidentally kills both of them with a sword. The three manage to flee to Cadiz with Cunegonde’s jewels. The Old Lady offers to sing for their dinner before they are found by the French police. Candide accepts an offer to fight for the Jesuits in South America, and the three begin their journey to the New World.

Maximilian and Paquette, revived and disguised as slave girls, are reunited in Buenos Aires. The governor of the city, Don Fernando, mistakes Maximilian for a girl and falls in love with him. After realizing his mistake, Don Fernando sells Maximilian to a priest. Candide, Cunegonde, and the Old Lady also arrive in Buenos Aires where the Old Lady convinces Cunegonde that marriage to the governor would ensure financial stability. Certain that the French police are still pursuing him, Candide flees the city and stumbles upon a Jesuit camp. There they are joined by the Father and Mother Superiors (Maximilian and Paquette in disguise). Candide confides in Maximilian his desire to marry Cunegonde, and Maximilian angrily challenges him to a fight that results in Maximilian being stabbed again. Candide is forced to flee into the jungle.

Three years have passed. Cunegonde and the Old Lady discuss the miseries of being upper class, but the governor does not want to hear their complaints. Candide sails off and finds Eldorado, the fabled city of gold. Though life is idyllic, Candide decides to leave in order to find Cunegonde. The locals give him some of the town’s golden sheep. Unwilling to go back to Buenos Aires, Candide asks Cacambo, his valet, to ransom Cunegonde from the governor. They make plans to meet again in Venice.

In Suriname, Candide meets Martin and Candide purchases a ship from the Dutch scoundrel Vanderdendur. The locals wish Candide and Martin a safe journey to Venice, but the ship sinks and Martin drowns. Candide is rescued by a passing galley rowed by slaves, among them Dr. Pangloss, revived yet again.

It is Carnival in Venice when the ship arrives. Candide searches for Cunegonde. Maximilian is now the crooked Prefect of Police and leader of the town, and Paquette is Venice’s most important prostitute. Cunegonde and the Old Lady have been hired to swindle gamblers. When Cunegonde tries to scam Candide, their disguises come off and they are dismayed to recognize each other. Candide is heartbroken to discover what Cunegonde has become. Candide uses what little money he has to buy a small farm. As the chorus sings that life is just life and paradise is nothing, he decides to marry Cunegonde.